It was a few days before Christmas, and the boys in her family were leaving together for a shopping trip. The annual tradition had started the first Christmas following Marianna’s passing. Because all four had been desperate to make Seri smile, and they had all known her well enough to figure out what she would want most from Santa, Fyodor and the three Grachyov brothers had ended up buying her the exact same gift: a pendant that had an intricately and accurately engraved drawing of her mother.

Thankfully, the pendants came in various shapes, reflecting the boys’ varying interests. Fyodor’s was in the shape of a house; Sergei’s was a treasure chest, Misha’s a potion bottle, while Vassi’s was in the shape of a book.

Since then, though, the boys had agreed to shop together for her Christmas gift while at the same time placing Seri on temporary house arrest. To make sure you don’t guess what we’re giving you, Fyodor and the boys had explained.

The setup used to exasperate Seri to no end, but now she couldn’t be more thankful for it.

Since returning home, the most incredible idea had occurred to Seri, one she was equally terrified and excited to test. But before that happened, she needed to get rid of all the boys in the house first, and today gave her the perfect opportunity to be alone.

Seri walked them to the front door, saying cheerfully, “Have fun shopping, but please don’t overspend.” Lately, the boys had been too competitive, trying to outdo each other with who was able to get her the most expensive and creative Christmas gift.

Fyodor pressed a kiss on her forehead, but his voice was stern when he asked, “You will be here when we come back, won’t you?”

“Oh, Papa.” She hugged him quickly. “Sorry for making you worry.” She pulled away and pointed to Vassi. “I was just mad at him.”

Sergei and Misha turned to their youngest brother with grim expressions.

“What the---how many times do I have to apologize for that?” Vassi demanded in exasperation. “I’ve said it already, but I’ll say it again. I’m sorry for bringing an outsider to spend Christmas with us. Happy now?”

Music to her ears, Seri thought, and she said sweetly, “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Jealous little leech,” she heard Vassi mutter under his breath but before she could react, the other boys were already reacting for her. They had heard his words, too, and Fyodor raged at him in Russian while the older brothers didn’t hesitate to thump him.

“What the---stop spoiling her!”

More thumping, more Russian curse words rained down on Vassi even as they all got inside the limousine.

She waved at them. “Take care!”

The limousine sped away.

And she was alone.

Finally.

---

Seri hurriedly locked her bedroom door before sitting down in front of her laptop. Plopping her noise-canceling headset into place, Seri switched her microphone on and typed one word on Google’s search box.

Porn.

A list of sites showed up, and she clicked on the first link and followed that with a click on the first clip on the home page.

Boring.

She went back to the home page and moved on to the second most popular clip.

Yuck.

Okay, real-life porn wasn’t doing it for her. She searched for the hentai category and breathed a sigh of relief when none of the previews grossed her out. This was exactly what she needed. Chewing on her lip, she carefully read the clips’ titles, researched its plots, and finally chose a ten-minute clip to preview.

The video had a school setting, featuring an innocent girl crushing on her slightly older neighbor. The drawing was beautiful, the sex scenes more artfully graphic than lurid, and all in all it was arousing enough to have Seri squirming in her seat.

Perfect.

This was definitely what she needed to test her idea.

It took thirty minutes for Seri to find the website to purchase a legal download of the film, an entire hour to transcribe a three-minute seduction scene in the library, and then another half hour to edit the scene so she could mute the female character’s voice while keeping everything else.

Her fingers danced on the keyboard, her heart beating faster with every second that passed.

If this idea worked---

Seri forced herself to swallow back her excitement.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, Seri.

More minutes passed before it was finally ready, and she leaned back against her seat, wonder filling her as she stared at her screen.

This was it, she thought. For better or worse, this was it.

Clearing her throat, Seri first tried doing it the way she usually did, imagining herself as the heroine.

Once the heroine’s image had settled in her mind, she clicked on Play. The female character started to speak, and Seri clicked on Record while she voiced out the heroine’s dialogue.

W-what are you doing? Don’t come nearer. You’re making me nervous.

She stopped the recording and replayed it. Seri closed her eyes and her lips curved as she listened to her voice. Maybe she was being biased, but she did think she got this part down pat.

Thank you Mom, for the vocal genes, she thought.

The next few seconds featured a seduction scene, with the hero’s hand climbing under the girl’s skirt while his tongue licked his way down her neck.

Clearing her throat, Seri tried dubbing this scene.

Aah. Oooh. Nooo. Oooh.

She stopped recording, played it back, and almost fell off her chair.

Oh my God! That couldn’t be her.

She played it back again, and this time, she did fall off her chair.

It was her!

And it was awful.

Her moans had come out like a cross between a raging pit bull and a monkey in distress, and the mere memory of it had Seri wincing. Arielle was right about her. She sucked horribly, immensely, and terribly at this.

Going back to her seat, Seri squared her shoulders and told herself it was time for The Idea.

First, she played the scene and took note of every little detail on the characters’ faces, their body movements, and the interplay between the plot and the music. She played it another time, and then another, and finally Seri was ready to record.

Here goes…

Seri pressed Play and Record.

The girl on the video started backing away, but instead of an animated figure, Seri saw…herself. It was Seri who was in the library, and it was Seri’s heart beating madly as the guy she liked was walking towards her. His sense of purposefulness terrified, thrilled, and confused her at the same time, affecting her body in the strangest way.

W-what are you doing? And it was Seri saying this, not anyone else.

Don’t come nearer.

You’re making me nervous.

The video’s angle changed, finally revealing the face of the hero.

But instead of another animated figure, Seri saw…him.

Vassi.

It was Vassi with her in the scene, Vassi wearing the same school uniform that eerily looked like their uniforms from their own school. It was Vassi’s beautiful eyes that captured her gaze, Vassi’s young, hard body that was making her feel so weak in the knees.

The hero reached for the girl’s knee, and in her mind, she saw Vassi doing the same thing.

The heroine’s lips parted to moan, and Seri moaned with her.

The hero’s hand climbed up in a tantalizingly slow pace, and Seri jerked in her seat as she found herself falling into a hot, vivid illusion. In her mind, she saw Vassi doing the same thing, his powerful hand moving up on her skin---

Seri’s legs trembled the same time the heroine’s legs trembled in the film.

The hero’s fingers found the girl’s core.

And Seri imagined, Seri saw, Seri felt the same thing, Vassi’s hand finding her most tender flesh.

The heroine gasped, and Seri gasped with her.

The hero smirked, and she saw Vassi smirking.

The heroine’s breath hitched, and so did hers.

And then the hero was kissing the heroine, making her moan.

And. It. Was. The. Same. For. Her.

Oh God.

She blindly fumbled for the mouse, clicked Stop, and slumped in her seat. Oh God, she was panting, and her body felt like it was both weak and burning hot and the same time. It was almost like she had a fever that no medicine could suppress. No, the only cure for this was---

Vassi.

She closed her eyes and swallowed back a moan.

Vassi.

Her fingers trailed down her body.

Vassi.

Oh God, Vassi.

Seri tried played back her recording.

Her moans and gasps filled the room, and they were…beautiful.

Hot.

Real.